In The Pitts

Okay. That was not stellar last night. We had some good plays, but uh, let’s just say not enough. It’s in the past now though so whatever; Columbus can redeem themselves to tonight in Pittsburgh! Only the second game of the season and we’re already taking on our biggest rivals. It’s gonna be great.

So Columbus lost to Toronto 4-1 with Cam being our lone goal scorer. There were plenty of scoring opportunities, but I’m going to chalk it up to this: it’s a new team. No, not literally a new team, but hear me out. There may be some familiar faces like Cam, Nick, Seth, and others, but there’s a lot of newbies too. Some of the players last night, it was their first ever NHL game. That is a lot of pressure on a 22 year old kid. And let’s not forget the goalie situation.

With Bob gone, Korpi has some big shoes to fill. He held down the fort when needed last season and he has definitely proven himself as a stellar goalie, but he’s still young. He didn’t have the back-to-back-to-back starts like Bob did. He wasn’t our go-to guy. So not only do the defensemen have to get used to his style of play, but Korpi has to get used to being the big goalie on campus. It’s scary. But like I said, Korpisalo has proven himself time and time again. The team just needs a bit to gel and learn each other’s styles.

Click the image below to see CBJ's new intro video!

With that being said, there were some really bad plays last night. Puck handling was a bit sloppy and defense left something to be desired. By the end of the night, Columbus and Toronto had 29 shots on goal, but Toronto was able to land four of those shots and we got one. I’ve also got to give it up to their goalie Frederik Andersen; he is one hell of a player. And Nicky agrees, but also laments the missed chances.

"Andersen, tip your cap to him. He obviously played really well for them. I liked a lot of our game. I just thought we didn't stay as patient as we normally would. I don't know if it's the first-game jitters or what it was, but that's something we can obviously take into our next game is sticking with it a little bit more."

There is good news though (or bad depending on how you spin it), both teams are coming off a loss. Pittsburgh lost on Thursday to the Buffalo Sabres 3-1. Geno was the lone scorer for Pittsburgh while Buffalo dominated the rest of the game. So both teams are hungry for a win. Let’s just hope Columbus’ hunger is a bit more intense.

In other great news, Sidney Crosby is still injured! Now, I don’t wish harm on anybody, but I’m also not going to complain if Sid is out of commission for a hot second. It looks like he’ll be back soon though as his injury is being reevaluated. The player reportedly had a limp, but did not need a walking stick, so he is making some progress.

Pittsburgh also has some new faces on their bench, but still have big wigs like Tanger, Geno, and Murray. Phil Kessel is gone and in his place, you’ll find Alex Galchenyuk. Which sucks because I like Galchenyuk. Hope he finds a better team.

Switching gears a little, Boone is only one point away from 200 in his NHL career, and Bjorky is three points away from 100. Cam added to his record-breaking stats last night with his sixth consecutive season-opener goal. This team is gonna kick some ass this year, I tell ya.

Projected CBJ Lineup

Forwards

Alexandre Texier - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson

Nick Foligno - Boone Jenner - Josh Anderson

Gustav Nyquist - Alexander Wennberg - Oliver Bjorkstrand

Jakob Lilja - Riley Nash - Emil Bemstrom

Defensemen

Ryan Murray - Seth Jones

Zach Werenski - David Savard

Scott Harrington - Markus Nutivaara

Goalie

Joonas Korpisalo